Bay Area Business Hall of Shame

(Updated)
This is NOT a joke: on the heels of the widening HP Spy Scandal deposed (?) Chairman and Chief Spy Patricia Dunn is still scheduled to be inducted into the Bay Area Business Hall of Fame at a $500-a-piece Gala Dinner at the Westin St. Francis.  The other inductee is former Chevron Chairman & CEO George M. Keller.

I don’t know Mr. Keller, but I don’t believe he is involved in any dishonorable activities, and frankly, if I were him, I would feel very-very inconvenient right now.  Perhaps to the point of rejecting the “honor” of sharing the pedestal with HP’s Master Spy.   

Fellow Hall of Famers, HP Founders William  Hewlett & David Packard must be turning in their graves now that that the Executive who did the most to destroy their company’s reputation is being honored along with them.   Other business legends in the Hall of Fame must feel the same: Eugene Kleiner & Thomas J. Perkins, William Hambrecht, Charles Schwab, Gordon Moore, George Lucas, Larry Sonsini.  As we know, at least Mr Sonsini and Mr Perkins were subject to HP’s pretexting – this must make for cozy dinner company 🙂

If Patricia Dunn had any decency left, she would not provoke further attention and public outcry by accepting the honor and attending the Gala,   But for all we know now, she plans to. 

Perhaps the other participants will save the day and boycott what would otherwise become the Bay Area Business Hall of Shame… (?)

Update (9/21):  Apparently no-one “saved the day”  Patricia Dunn was toasted and inducted yesterday.

Related articles:

• The New York Times
• Washington Post
• ZDNet,
• Techdirt,
• robhyndman.com
• Dan Gillmor’s Blog
• Silicon Valley Watcher
• Scobleizer

Tags: Bay+Area+Business+Hall+of+Fame, Bay+Area+Business+Hall+of+Shame, Hall+of+Shame, HP, Hewlett+Packard, HP+Scandal, Pat+Dunn, Patricia+Dunn, Gala+Dinner, Boycott